Arches

Not suprisingly, the main draw at Arches National Park are the arches. There are thousands of them in all shapes and sizes. Pretty much everywhere you go, you will see them, and there are many more just a short hike from the road.

When you are done looking at the pictures, you can go back to the Arches National Park page, or you can continue on to see Delicate Arch, or other sights.

To view a picture, click on the thumbnail image or its description.
Images Copyright 2003, G. Edward Johnson

South Window arch
The late afternoon sun gives the rock an orangeish red hue. In this area, there are three arches close together, North and South windows and Turret arch.
Date: September 16, 2003
Location: Windows Section, Arches N.P., UT

Arch, Tree, and Trail
North window arch is right around the corner from South Window. This is the trail leading up to it.
Date: September 16, 2003
Location: Windows Section, Arches N.P., UT

Landscape Arch
Probably the second most famous arch in the park, the arch has a span of 306 feet. It is also one of the thinnest arches in the park, in 1991 a hunk of rock 60 feet long fell from the thinnest part of the arch. In some places it is only 11 feet thick.
Date: September 17, 2003
Location: Devil's Garden, Arches N.P., UT

Wall arch and sign
Wall arch is another arch on the Devil's Garden trail. In front of it, people have built hundreds of small cairns. You can see three of them sitting on the sign. This arch collapsed in August of 2008.
Date: September 17, 2003
Location: Devil's Garden, Arches N.P., UT

Partition arch partition
Partition arch is partitioned down the center. In this picture you can see the partition that partitions partition arch.
Date: September 17, 2003
Location: Devil's Garden, Arches N.P., UT

Double O arch
This arch is bigger than it looks. A person can easily stand up in the smaller O. The trail is on the other side of the arch, but you can climb through it and get this reverse view. These arches are much rounder than most.
Date: September 17, 2003
Location: Devil's Garden, Arches N.P., UT

Double Arch
Another two-fer. These arches share one common side but leave that side at an angle. This picture was taken in late afternoon and you can see the bright spot where the sun shines through the arch and hits the cliff wall.
Date: September 17, 2003
Location: Double Arch, Arches N.P., UT

Skyline arch
This arch is high above the ground. You can walk up to the base, but the view is better from farther out.
Date: September 19, 2003
Location: Skyline Arch, Arches N.P., UT

Broken Arch
You can't see the whole arch as you are walking up to it, just one side. I had visions of an arch with a big chunk missing out of the center, but that was not the case. If you look at the very middle of the arch, you can see a crack running through the arch, giving it the name.
Date: September 19, 2003
Location: Broken Arch, Arches N.P., UT